Soulsight: Rewrote
by Theresalwaysthatone
Summary: Xerious. A special name for a special dragon. The secrets of the past still haunt you in your future, and he's about to learn that the hard way. A rewrite of an earlier story of mine.
1. Chapter One

_I finished this the day that I published the first Soulsight chapter as an anniversary gift for its first birthday. It was such an unnoticeable book, and it was so bad. But I couldn't stop thinking about it. Every waking moment I thought about how much I loved it, and how much I could have done to make it better. To make it enjoyable._ _I've grown a lot in one and a half years. I've been drifting away from writing, and started doing 3d animating. These two chapters took 4 months, when before it would have only took 4 weeks, or even 4 days. I only decided to publish these chapters for fear of forgetting, and to force me to continue writing. Please don't be disappointed, I already am. Just enjoy it. I wrote it to tell a story, and to entertain. I hope it does just that. I won't ask any more of you, except to enjoy it._

 _If you haven't realised, this is a rewrite of my original Soulsight story. I'm sure you can see the improvements._

 _~Theresalwaysthatone (Skylight)_

 **Soulsight**

 _As rewrote by Skylight_

 _Happy late birthday Soulsight. You changed my life forever._

 ** _Chapter One_**

A singular egg was laying on a padded nest of moss and leaves. It was a dark green, with black speckles. It was in a clearing, surrounded by luscious vegetation. Ancient trees surrounded it, with a worn path in between two trees that lead to places unknown. Beside the egg laid two dragons huddled up together. One was an emerald color, slim and tall. Even with it's thin build, it still showed hints of excess muscle, remnants of it's past. The other was night black. It's wings speckled with hints of white. This one was more squarely built, not exactly tough, but was definitely more robust than the other dragon. The two were wrapped around each other, their tail's intertwined. Nightwing and Rainwing, not so unlikely of a couple in the times. They were both asleep, the dawn light only just breaking free of the horizon. In the distance two birds were chirping, lost in some unknown conversation having meaning only to them. Then a new sound entered the fray. It was a light tapping. Tip tap tap. A pause. Tap tip tap. The Nightwing stirred. Scritch scratch. Opening her eyes, the Nightwing yawned. She stood up and stretched, then looked around. Her ear twitched. Tip tap scratch. She pinpointed where it was coming from. The egg. A small crack formed on the side, and it was spreading. She tapped the Rainwing with her tail. "Bluebird. Wake up." She whispered.

Bluebird groaned. "What is it babe?" He stood up and yawned as well. His scales shimmered from emerald to a sapphire blue. He looked over to his mate and then followed her eyes. "Is… is it?..."

She smiled. "I think you're about to be a father."

Bluebird licked her muzzle, not finding words to portray his emotions. A soft breeze blew through the wood, the quiet rustle of leaves like a fleeting whisper. The couple settled down together, for they knew the process of hatching could take up to a few hours.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Emotions. Memories. Sounds. Feelings. The roundness of his shell. The darkness surrounding him. And the countless emotions flowing through his mind. Hope. Joy. Curiosity. Love. It engulfed him. And he wanted to see where it was coming from. Surely there was more than just the small world he knew. Scratching away, pushing at the walls that contained him. He felt the membrane bulge. He felt the shell crack. He knew he was right. There was more to the world than he thought of. He pushed off the floor of the egg and rammed into the wall.

Suddenly light. Blinding light. And smells. And sounds. So many senses he didn't even know he had. He opened his eyes slowly, the white blanket over his vision slowly fading away. The hazy outline of two dragons appeared in front of him. Some unknown chatter seemed to be coming from them, but he couldn't understand it. As his eyes adjusted, the blurred images disappeared, leaving just the clear picture he now saw. The dragonet could also properly hear now, though he could seldom understand anything.

"Blue-Bluebird… What's wrong with it?"

"I don't know… Maybe it has my scales. Maybe it just wants to be white. I bet he'll change any moment now…"

Uncertainty. Confusion. Fear. The dragonet felt that, and let out a small whine. He looked up at the tall beings.

"What if he doesn't? It's bone-white. I've never seen anything like that before."

"Then we'll still raise him. That's just his appearance. Nothing says he's changed on the inside. He's still a dragon."

The Nightwing nodded. "You're right." There was silence for a bit. The dragonet yawned, closing his eyes. The world grew darker. But it wasn't completely dark. A golden-yellow outline of the two dragons faded in. In the middle of each silhouette was a glowing orb. He opened his eyes with surprise.

Bluebird looked at the dragonet and tilted his head slightly. "We need to give this fellow a name soon… Sightviewer, got any ideas?"

"I want something special. Something unique. A name that can be remembered. A name that can have meaning."

"What do you mean? Is it going to be in Nightwing fashion? What are we working with?"

"No, No. It doesn't work with him, I can feel it. Oh! I got one. Xerious. Not many 'x's in names nowadays. And it's unique." Sightviewer said, smiling. Xerious looked up at the mention of his name, but they didn't notice.

The then-blue Rainwing nodded. "I have no objections. If that's what you wish, I'm fine with it. How did you come up with Xerious?"

"It just kinda popped into my head." She admitted.

Xerious stood up, wobbling a bit as he adjusted his balance. It was all about adjustment in the first few days. He wobbled over to his parents and then looked up. He let out a little chirp.

Bluebird smiled, pure happiness and joy on his face. "You chirping at me little guy? Welcome to the family." He softly scratched Xerious on the side of the neck, causing the dragonet to purr lightly. "I'm Bluebird, and this is your mama, Sightviewer. We promise to be the best parents you can have." Bluebird looked at Sightviewer. "I bet he's hungry." Xerious chirped again. Sightviewer ran into the forest, before quickly returning with some sort of small, bumpy fruit. She set it down and rolled it towards Xerious. He was curious of the round object, and pounced onto his meal with another chirp.

"I used to love Kipletecs when I was younger. Ate them all the time." Bluebird thought back with some fondness. Xerious smiled, and them bit into the fruit. He was surprised to find a sweet juice greet his tongue. The young dragonet took another bite.

"He hasn't changed color yet..." Sightviewer pointed out. "I… I don't think he's going to change…"

Bluebird sighed. "I'm not changing what I said. We'll raise him normally. If he asks about it, we'll tell him. Just relax. Everything will be fine." During the conversation, Xerious frowned and tilted his head, taking his eyes off the fruit and onto his parents. He saw the acceptance on his mother's face, and the many questions she had, but more than that, he felt the acceptance and questions. Her emotions soaked into his. He turned to look at bluebird, and then his mental torment flowed into him. Xerious pawed at his head. It hurt. It was confusing. He was confused. He wanted it to stop. Such unknown feelings. It was scary. Why could he feel such things? Something boiled up within him. Burning within his being. Instinctively he opened his maw, and then the fire inside him was no longer in him. A white-hot ball of fire rushed out, tumbling through the air before hitting a bush. The foliage instantly burst into flames. Xerious coughed, and then looked up. He tilted his head as the orange flames danced in his eyes.

Bluebird's eyes widened, and he ran to put the flames out. "Sightviewer! Err, a little help here?" His mate ran over, helping him extinguish the inferno. Luckily dragons developed ways to put out accidental fires, passed down from generation to generation. After dealing with the blaze, Bluebird turned back to look at Xerious. "You're going to be trouble, I can tell already." He smiled and put a wing around Sightviewer. "This is going to be one hell of an adventure, ain't it?"

Sightviewer smiled back at him, her eyes meeting his. "It is. At least we'll be together for it, I'm sure it'll take the both of us."

Xerious smiled. Then he opened his mouth. "Mama."

Sightviewer gasped. Bluebird smile grew. "Look at that, his first word. Little one works fast, doesn't he?"

Sightviewer laid down, in front of Xerious. A feeling of accomplishment ran through him. And another emotion filled him. One that wasn't his. The love of a mother, and the sheer happiness from her. Then the pride of a father, and the pure joy of seeing them together. Xerious purred, no words know to him that expressed his contentment. Then he yawned. Hatching wasn't easy, and the excitement of the morning drained the energy from the poor dragonet. He trotted up to his mother and then laid down beside her. Sightviewer looked up at Bluebird. "I hate to ask this from you, but do you think you could run the errands today? I want to stay and watch Xerious today. Is that fine?"

The Rainwing shifted his color spectrum. "No problem dear. What needs to be done?"

Xerious yawned again and closed his eyes. The golden outline of his parents appeared beside him. Xerious swivelled his head, looking up and down at the shimmering silhouettes. He could feel their emotions, almost like colors. Each one was unique, meaning something different, yet felt so familiar. Happiness. Relief. Worry. Sometimes at the same time. It was confusing. He already knew that. But it was also interesting. He couldn't help but wonder what other mental colors he could find. What else was out there? He snuggled up closer to his mother. A warm fuzziness fell over him, like a comforting blanket. His mother leaned over and licked him on the cheek, her golden outline pressing against him stood out in the void.

"Sleep well, little one…"

The lines faded away. The glowing sphere was the last to go. And then it was all gone, soon replaced with the comfort of sleep. The world so peaceful. So simple.

~~~~~~~~

 _Secrets left untouched._

 _Pasts left forgotten._

 _Sometimes the things we try to forget the most, are the hardest to forget._

 _A dragonet, with powers unknown._

 _A father, seemingly perfect._

 _A mother, who was too quiet._

 _Maybe they thought it was for the best._

 _But things could change._

 _Things change so fast._

 _Hold your loved ones close, because in the end, it's all that matters. I promised he wouldn't be forgotten. And I've never broke a promise._ _The proof is in your hand._


	2. Chapter Two

"Watcha doing?"

"Hey! Mind your own business!"

"Ha. But that's what friends do."

Xerious, in the process of reading a note, promptly hid it. A dusty brown dragon stood next to him, peering over Xerious's shoulder. The most noticeable thing about the dragon was his barbed tail, curled up to keep the poisonous point away from any living creatures. The other obvious giveaway for his tribe origin was his scales. They were a dark sandy color, like where the ocean meets the beach. His back had small quills that trailed down to the tip of his tail. Other than that he looked distinctly Sandwing. He had emerald green eyes, two horns that curved slightly at the end, and a black forked tongue. And a scar the ran down from his right eyecrest to the bottom of his snout.

"Snake. Seriously. I'd much rather read this to myself."

"Aww. Ok."

The pair were walking down a hallway. At the other side of the hall were a set of double doors. It was the end of school. Xerious had decided to stay a little late to finish stuff, and his best friend couldn't help but stay with him. They finally completed their work, and they were excited for the coming days. It wasn't often they got a whole week off. The cause of this was the celebration of the end of the Twenty Year War. It was a mouthful to say, so most dragons simply called it Remembrance Day. But most schools give their students the whole week off, to keep students from dropping school entirely during the week.

There was more to their excitement, however. It just so happened that both of their hatch-days fell into the seven days of free time. To keep it simple, and probably to save coin, the families celebrated their hatch-days simultaneously, with one big party. With school off for the week, Xerious and Snake felt ecstatic.

"Soo… Who's the new girlfriend?" Snake teased.

"Shut up!" Xerious gave Snake a push. "I've already told you, there's no girl here I could really see in romantic light. It's seems like it's just some sort of prankster. They keep on writing cryptic messages. Whatever." Xerious tossed the parchment into a trash can. On the paper was a bunch of jagged writing. 'To Bluebird' was written at the top in red. Only two people at the school knew his father's name. He was one of them, and the Sandwing beside him was the other. He put the thought to the side. _I'm worrying too much. I don't want to be that paranoid kid who acts as cautious as a spy in enemy territory._

They reached the doors, which Xerious pushed open. Sudden beams of light shone in his eyes, the rays of the sun flowing down. Some birds chirped, and past the empty plane of the courtyard, trees swayed in the mild breeze. To the left was hills, topped with trees. Straight ahead of them was a dense forest, the Rainforest. To the right, jagged cliffs that fell into the sea. The sun was starting to set, the blue sky being toke over by the orange and purple dusk. The air had a nip to it, a sign of the coming winter. The leaves were an assortment of reds and oranges. As beautiful as the scenery was, he wasn't going to miss the school in the week he had off.

"How about you, Snake? Are you going to miss school? I was just thinking about it now."

"Me? Pfft. As if. Well… I guess I'll miss biology a bit." He admitted. "Mr. Hayds is pretty fun."

"I still don't understand how you can like biology." Xerious said with another playful nudge. "It's so boring. I've legitimately fallen asleep in that class."

"How can you be bored? Biology is amazing. Life is amazing. There's so many wonders in the world. I mean, look around! Isn't it beautiful? That's because of biology. Because of life."

Xerious giggled. "You get excited too easily." He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Out of the darkness, Snake appeared, the outline of him appearing clearly. As always, a golden light appeared in his chest, a small circle of it slightly darker than the rest, almost black. He opened his eyes. Snake was saying something, but Xerious's mind had already wandered to different places. _Souls…_

He was almost four when he figured out exactly how different he was from the rest. He noticed how his scales were different from others. He noticed the inquisitive glances when he mentioned the lights he saw. But he never put two and two together until then. He got a bit more than four. After he discovered he was a Soul-seer, he didn't tell anyone. Most thought he was crazy already, so he kept the secret to himself and his parents. Snake didn't know. His teachers didn't know. The world didn't know. They didn't know he could feel every emotion, and see every soul. He never gathered the courage to say anything, but he was starting to wonder if maybe he should. Snake deserved to know. But he was afraid. What would he think about it? Would Snake still trust him?

"Xerious!"

"Oh, what?"

"Geez man. You were completely out of it. Did you hear a word I said?"

"No." Xerious admitted. "Sorry."

Snake grumbled. "Whatever. Doesn't matter. What were you thinking about?"

"Err…" He hesitated. "Nothing. I just… I don't know. I got lost in thought…" He hoped his twisted truth was good enough.

It was, to a degree. Snake eyed him suspiciously, but let it slide. "Ok then…"

Xerious sighed. He could feel the disbelief and mild anger coming from his best friend. _I wonder if normal dragons have as much trouble as I do. Feeling the emotions makes it worse, I'm sure it does._ His secret bore into him. Each time he lied it drilled a bit deeper. Maybe it wasn't just nothing. He closed his eyes again, then looked down at his own chest. Golden. The common golden light was there, as usual. But a very small part was grey. He opened his eyes in shock. He knew that most dragons harboured a hint of darkness within them, and he knew that he would eventually gain some darkness over the years, but it was still unsettling to see it in himself. He shook his head, trying to shake off the sense of unease. It was normal, no one was always perfect all the time. But seeing the fact solidified by his own light was a whole new different feeling.

The idea of a soul was very controversial within his world. Each dragon had different views on supernatural things. In fact, Xerious called it a soul simply for lack of a better word. It was a light, and the darker the dragon's thoughts, the darker the soul. And he could see the outline of a dragon with his eyes closed, along with what they're feeling. It even worked through walls to a certain extent, but he was still exploring that ability. That's all Xerious knew about it. Other than that he knew nothing about his own powers. A fledgling learning to use his wings. A scientist studying an unknown field.

Maybe he should share his secret after all.

As they were walking through the open lawn of the school, Xerious turned to look at Snake. "Out of curiosity, what do you have planned for the rest of the day?"

"Who me? Nothing much. Hang out with the gang and maybe play some talonball at some point. Why?" Snake inquired.

"I err… do you think we can stop by the cliffs?"

Snake raised an eyecrest. "I have no objection. But why do you want us to go over there?"

Xerious looked at his talons. "I umm… I kinda maybe have something to tell you, that's better if heard away from others."

Snake giggled. "Ok then. But if it's about you coming out, I like you and all, but not that much. I know you're cute, but I don't think you're that cute."

The pure white hybrid felt his cheeks grow hot. "No no no no! It's nothing about that!" He furiously insisted.

"Are you suuuurrreee?" Snake teased. "You did say no girl caught your fancy. What about the dudes?"

"I'm not gay!" Xerious retorted hotly.

"If you insist." Snake said, still still smiling. He look away, taking in the scenery. The path to the cliffs was well worn, yet still felt as if they were trekking through undiscovered territory. The trees bore over them, tall and ancient, with light filtering through the overgrowth. The field where the school was in had quickly faded from sight.

Xerious looked over his hybrid friend, remembering all of the times he spent with the dusty dragon. Xerious was still four when he met Snake. Snake had moved in to the hut next to his family. All he knew was that his best friend had moved from Possibility with his mother, and has stayed here ever since. The scar Snake had was always there. Xerious could never remember a time when he didn't have it. He also knew that Snake's father had passed away, but he didn't know when or how, and Snake never seemed interested in parting that information.

Suddenly the trees disappeared, and a clearing took place. The blank land didn't last long, and gave way to jagged cliffs. Waves pounded at the bottom, creating a muffled roar. The sun could be seen clearly, starting to hide itself behind the horizon. Golden rays beaming down onto the land, casting long shadows. Under the multicoloured sky, with its numerous tints of yellows and blues, Xerious sat down. Snake set himself beside him.

"So, why did you drag me out here? Surely it wasn't because of the scenery. Although it does look rather nice." The sandy dragon asked.

Xerious took a deep breath. He looked around, to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "Ok. I don't mean to make this dramatic. I hate unnecessary drama. But I needed to tell someone this, anyone at all. And you're the one I trust the most."

"I'll take that as a complement." Snake said. "How serious is this?"

"It's influenced me for my whole life. No one can ever know about this, although I doubt they'd believe you if you told them anyways. You understand?"

Snake turned serious. "As I see this isn't just a small thing," He put his paw over his heart. "I promise that as long as I live, without your permission, I won't utter a word of this to a soul."

A shiver went through Xerious at the mention of a soul. He took another deep breath. "Do you ever wonder how I know what you're feeling? Why I always know where you were in a game of hide and seek back when we were younger?"

Snake looked at him curiously. "Well, your mother is a Nightwing, isn't she? Are you-"

Xerious cut him off. "Actually let me try again." He looked into Snake's green eyes. "Do you believe in souls?"

The question seemed to have caught him off guard. "Well… that's a bit of a complicated question. Do I believe a dragon is good or bad? Yes. Do I believe there is an afterlife, or that our souls can get taken away, or lost? No. Of course, we have no evidence for any of that, so it doesn't really matter anyways."

"We do, and it does."

Snake looked at him in shock and disbelief. "What do you mean? Are you saying you've seen a soul in your life or something?"

"Every day. Every day I see no less than one."

The hybrid stared at Xerious like he suddenly grew a second pair of wings. "What are you talking about? Are you just pulling my fucking leg or something?"

"Snake please. Please for the three moons listen to me. I'm not lying. I'm not joking around. I've been seeing souls since I hatched. I've seen mine. I've see yours."

Snake seemed to recoil slightly. More than anything though was the look of confusion and worry that was etched on his face. "Xerious, calm down. What the fuck are you saying?"

"Snake…. I can see souls… I'm a Soul-seer."

"Wha… but…" Snake was lost for words.

"Every soul. Every being. Every emotion. I've seen it all. I've felt it all. Every day I've felt the happiness, the sadness, the shame, the regret, the love, the hate, and every other emotions you may think of." Xerious poured out. "I've felt it all. I've seen it all."

Snake took a deep breath. "Xerious. Xerious, look at me. Look into my eyes." Deep blue eyes met emerald green eyes, their gaze interlocking. "Good. Now tell me, without a speck of doubt, you're not lying or hallucinating. Can I believe you?"

Xerious nodded. "I wish you couldn't. I wish there was doubt. I wish I was lying."

The hybrid sighed. "Okay… I'll believe you."

"My whole life…." Xerious trailed off. "I guess I should tell you what I mean exactly when I say I'm a Soul-seer…"

Snake nodded. "You were definitely vague during your outburst. How does it work? What does a soul look li-"

A rustling in the bushes behind them cut him off. They both turned around in shock. A lone Nightwing walked out of the bushes. She was a dragonet, around their age, with glowing green eyes and speckled wings. She was smiling. And under each of her eyes was a singular teardrop-shaped silver scale.


End file.
